The billion-dollar project is now 5 years old and could serve up to 10 million passengers in 2016

FAST FACTS:-Sacramento International Airport’s Terminal B turns 5-Billion-dollar project was once Sacramento’s biggest capital improvement project-Airport could serve 10 million passengers this year, which hasn’t be done in nearly a decade

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Terminal B leads to airport growth

Terminal B, which is home to major airliner Southwest Airlines, is responsible for more than 65 percent of passenger traffic at Sacramento International Airport.

The terminal houses “Leap” the giant red rabbit sculpture, which was built in the midst of the Great Recession, and is part of an airport that has seen continued growth.

“We have over two years of month over month increases. These are really good signs,” Communication and Media Officer Laurie Slothower said.

Slothower said flights in and out of Sacramento International are 5 percent higher than they were in 2015.

Additionally, the airport saw 120,000 more passengers during the summer months – June, July and August – than it did during the same period in 2015.

As this kind of growth continues, Slothower said 2017 should be an exciting year for additions to destinations and nonstop flights.

Just how exciting, though, remains to be seen.

“We won’t know for about six to eight months, but the indications that we have are very positive,” she said.

The airport is also working to reduce costs to airliners, which could also help in that area.

Slothower added that budget concerns seen a few years ago, which called for $15 million in reductions, are no longer a concern for the airport.

The airport is hiring positions that were once left vacant but maintains it will continue on a path of lean and efficient operations.

As far as a hotel on the grounds, which was approved by the board of supervisors at the beginning of 2015, Slothower said that’s still in place and negotiations continue between the developer and the contractor.